Whitman and Waterfalls

Somewhere, Walt Whitman is smiling:

i-4e55033469fe211e851b9fd234ed83d8-waterspan-1.jpg

From "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry":

FLOOD-TIDE below me! I watch you face to face;
Clouds of the west! sun there half an hour high! I see you also face to face.

Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes! how curious you are to me!
On the ferry-boats, the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning home, are more curious to me than you suppose;
And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence, are more to me, and more in my meditations, than you might suppose.

The lovely photo is by Nicole Bengiveno of the NY Times. And the waterfall is courtesy of gravity, the East River and Olafur Eilasson.

More like this

This poem is not for children. This is an adult poem for adults -- and possibly mature, sophisticated teenagers. (In some ways it makes me wish my parents did not read this site, but I will get over that.) As a consequence of its sordid nature, it is completely below the fold. It is also very…
Adult plumage Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis, stands on a lamp on Roosevelt Island, overlooking the East River. Manhattan Island is in the background. Image: GrrlScientist, 21 August 2008 [larger view]. I went on a little day trip to Roosevelt Island to look at birds and to learn a little…
I'm glad it's Friday - it's been a busy week. It was the penultimate week of classes, so there were loose ends to tie-up. My three thesis students defended (and passed). I had planning meetings regarding the next year or two of my teaching and scholarship, and also talked about Hume to the oldest…
  An Irish Airman Forsees His Death I know that I shall meet my fate Somewhere among the clouds above; Those that I fight I do not hate, Those that I guard I do not love; My county is Kiltartan Cross, My countrymen Kiltartan's poor, No likely end could bring them loss Or leave them happier than…